Feb. 7, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The first day of competition at the Rod McCravy is complete. The University of Memphis men's team finished the initial day well having four athletes put points up on the board for Memphis and the women's squad notched four point scoring performances as well.

Today's events included the women's and men's weight throw, women's pole vault, men's high jump and women's and men's triple jump.

Memphis' performers of the meet after Friday's meet included a pair of pole vaulting seniors, Ashton Baldwin with a sixth-place height of 3.55m (11-07.75), and Whitney Bolton with a seventh-place height of 3.55m (11-07.75). Freshman Inger Anne Froyesdal recorded a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 11.90m (39-00.50) and freshman Kyosha Yarbrough placed seventh in the triple jump with a mark of 11.69m (38-04.25).

On the men's side, Friday's best performances came from Steffen Nerdal, who recorded an NCAA Automatic qualifying mark in the weight throw with a season-best first-place toss of 21.56m (70-09.00). Knut Syversen finished the event in eighth-place recording a throw of 17.46m (57-03.50). Aaron Whetstone grabbed second-place in the triple jump with a mark of 14.93m (48-11.75) and Jerome Leslie took fifth-place with a leap of 14.15m (46-05.25).

Saturday's events will commence at 10:30 a.m. with the women's high jump. The men's and women's long jump begins at 11:00 a.m. followed by the men's and women's shot put at 11:30 a.m. and the final field event, the pole vault, at 12:00 p.m.

Running events begin at 12:30 with the preliminaries of the men's and women's 60m dash and 60m hurdles. The Bill Lee women's mile and men's mile is between the preliminaries and finals of the 60m dash and 60m hurdles at 1:50 p.m. The 400m dash comes next, followed by the 800m run, the 200m dash, the 3000m run and finally the 4x400m relay.

Full men's and women's teams include host Kentucky, Illinois State, Louisville, Western, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee, Southern Illinois, Tennessee-Chattanooga, SIU-Edwardsville, Miami (Ohio) and Clemson. Teams only brining women's squads are Mississippi State, Alabama, Vanderbilt, and Illinois.

The Rod McCravy Memorial Track and Field meet is named in honor of McCravy, a former University of Kentucky track athlete who died in 1987 at the age of 19 while sleeping in his dorm room. Although only a sophomore, Rod had already become one of the team's leaders. His charisma and genuine caring for others earned him the respect and admiration of all of his teammates. His personal impact on his teammates, friends and coaches went beyond athletics. A social work major, Rod is remembered as a dedicated, enthusiastic athlete who was a conscientious students and outstanding human being. A graduate of Louisville's Trinity High School, Rod was a two-time Class 3A state champ in the 300 meter hurdles. He set the then UK freshman record in the 400 hurdles and finishes sixth at the TAC National Junior Championships. A meet named in Rod's honor enables us to remember him, as well as provide an on-going opportunity to speak to our athletes about his impact on our program and those he surrounded.